macnn/electronista
04/12/2007, 2:30pm, EDT
Thursday, April 12thiRiver releases Nano rival in US
iRiver today brought its minimalist Clix 2 media player to the US as a new entrant in the hotly contested flash media player field. Previewed at CES, the device keeps its size small by embedding directional buttons around the edges of the 2.2-inch screen. The player is more flexible than the rival iPod nano through support for MPEG-4 videos as well as Flash Lite-based games, FM radio and voice recording.It also becomes one of the first US-bound devices to ship with an AMOLED organic display: the screen both improves brightness, iRiver says, and maintains a strong 24 hours of battery life despite being larger than the 1.5-inch screen of its challenger from Apple.
iRiver currently lists a single model with 4GB of flash storage that should be in stock today for $200 and currently requires a Windows-based PC. A basic 2GB version should be available soon for $150, and a more capacious 8GB model will follow in June at a price that will also match its Apple equivalent at $250.
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"...as a new entrant in the hotly contested flash media player field."
It is difficult to argue that there is any contest in the flash media player field. The field is dominated by the Nano and Shuffle. This players is merely an entrant into the hotly contested field of competitors to the dominant iPod.
Next, along the same lines:
"...despite being larger than the 1.5-inch screen of its challenger from Apple."
iPod could only be a challenger if this device was an established dominant product on the market, and Apple was a new entry. The opposite is true, however.
Or maybe it is...
All in all it's nice to see someone challenge the Apple at least from the looks of it.
It keeps Apple on their toes, and consumers end up winning.
I'm not sure this is so much a NANO competitor as a MINI.
No wonder they're bragging about the battery life here--they don't want you to notice it's thicker than many cellphones and even a few pda's!